Julian Assange Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Nothing noble about it.

Daniel Halper

February 3, 2011 3:40 PM

The nomination of a scoundrel like Julian Assange for the Nobel Peace Prize is not without precedent – in fact, there’s a good chance he could win it. Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, would join the company of Palestinian terrorist-in-chief Yasser Arafat if he were to be awarded the prize.

Assange is, of course, responsible for acquiring and disseminating state secrets, putting the lives of those who are named in the classified documents at risk. Blood will be spilled – if it hasn’t already – over the contents of those cables. In particular, the war documents released, which supposedly expose the indecency of American troops and which name those in war zones that have collaborated with American troops, have already had a detrimental effect on the American war effort.

With this announcement, is the Nobel Peace Prize committee, or at least the person directly responsible for this nomination, endorsing Assange and his activities?

But leaving aside his anti-Americanism, which is probably why he was nominated in the first place, there’s also the issue of women’s rights. Let’s not forget that Assange stands accused of raping two women in Sweden. You'd think that at least might give the committee pause.

Then again, since Arafat did get the award in 1994 (along with two others), we probably shouldn't be surprised that the one who nominated Assange for the Nobel Peace Prize is incapable of reaching a sound moral judgment about those who endanger the lives of innocent civilians around the world.